rogue avengers return │ peter parker¹

.Ｓｌｅｅｐｙ.

Word Count: 937

The cereal was too soggy. Truly, a great start to his day. After dealing with the rogues last night he was tired but never fell asleep.

Tony swirled his spoon through the Cheerios, silently praying for a cup of coffee. He'd promised Peter that he'd lay off for a while, but God was he itching for a fix. Surviving on coffee for over 40 years and trying to go cold turkey was easier said than done.

It was a Saturday. Normally, he'd be down in the lab working on some project or another, whether it be for Stark Industries or the New Avengers. Instead, he was sitting at the island in his kitchen, attempting to get actual food into his stomach.

How long had it been since he last ate? A day? Two? He'd lost count.

He was broken from his thoughts by the subtle pat pat of feet from down the hallway. Y/N looked as though she was still sleeping as she padded across the kitchen towards the cupboard, scanning the shelves for her cereal. She grabbed the Cheerios, did a double take, peered into the box, and shot a glare at Tony from across the island.

"Did you eat my Cheerios?"

Tony glanced down as his bowl, then slowly raised his eyes to meet Y/N's. "No?" He said, but it came out more as a question than a statement.

"Seriously, Tiny, this is the last box!"

Tony shrugged. "I can just get some more, and stop calling me that"

"Well can you get some in the next," Y/N glanced at the clock, "ten minutes, 'cause I'm supposed to start a meeting with the rogues at 11:00, which gives me all of... thirty minutes to wake up and have a mental breakdown. And I cannot wake up without my Cheerios."

Tony rolled his eyes. It was too early in the morning for this. At this rate, he was going to need more than coffee to get through the day. "Here, Tidal, just take mine. I'm not going to finish it anyway. Just don't say I never did anything for you." He pushed the bowl towards the her, and Y/N glanced at it before looking back at Tony skeptically.

"Are you sure? No offence, Dad, but you look like you're about to keel over if you don't get anything in you."

Tony stood, barely wobbling as he put weight on his feet (not noticing she called him dad for the first time in a while). He tried to conceal it, but even with eyes glossy from sleep Y/N caught the movement. "I'm fine Y/N, just eat your cereal. It tastes like healthy crap anyway."

She didn't take the bait. "You need rest. When did you go to sleep last night?"

"Uh..." It couldn't have been later than 5am, could it? "At a reasonable hour," he said.

"Uh-huh, sure. Was that reasonable hour later than 1 in the morning?" Y/N asked, coming around the island.

"What are you, my dad? You're my daughter, not the other way around. Go eat your cereal, don't worry about me." He batted at her hands, but the girl pushed him aside and took his arm.

"Come on, sleepy time for Tiny." She started to pull Tony towards the bedrooms. Even half asleep, Tidal was too strong for him. Maybe he really did need some rest.

"I do not need 'sleepy time', I'm not a toddler. I am a fully formed adult. I can decide when I need sleep, thank you very much."

Y/N snorted. "Yeah, I can tell. That's why you're whining about not needing sleep with bags under your eyes."

"I do not have bags."

"You have bags, their Gucci."

"Why did I adopt you again?"

"Cause you love me."

Just for a second, Tony could feel his heart clench. Tidal said it so casually, as if she were talking about the weather, but it meant more to Tony than he could say. Emotions weren't his strong suit. He may be a genius, but when it came to feelings, he might as well be a robot. Hell, even FRIDAY did better with all that touchy-feely stuff than he did.

Tony grunted and averted his gaze. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say."

Silence followed as Y/N led him to his room. He risked a glance at the kid's face. Y/N was looking at him, a fond smile laying across his face. Tony smiled back, just for a second, and looked away.

She practically tossed him onto the bed when they got to Tony's room. She moved back towards the doorway.

"Sleep. If you leave this room in the next three hours, FRIDAY will let me know, right FRI?"

"Absolutely, Y/N."

"Traitor," Tony grumbled, but there was no heat to his words. Tidal rolled her eyes and moved to close the door.

"Get some sleep, dad," she called over her shoulder.

"Whatever you say, Tidal."

The door shut with a final thud, sealing him inside. Tony turned on his side. FRIDAY had shut the blinds, leaving him in almost complete darkness.

That girl...

Tony smiled to himself as he began to drift off. Maybe he was feeling sentimental, maybe the lack of coffee was muddling his brain, or maybe he was too delirious to feel self conscious, but he imagined he was back in the hallway with Y/N, stumbling towards bed.

"'Cause you love me."

"Yeah, Tidal. Because I love you."

A/N: a little short! go check out a new story i'm writing Broken Without You, I'm going to post every Wednesday and It would mean a lot to me :)